The Playing-Card is a quarterly publication, publishing scholarly articles covering all aspects of playing cards and of the games played with them, produced by the International Playing-Card Society (IPCS). The Playing-Card's articles are mostly in English, but also in French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

History

The journal was founded in 1972, as The Journal of the Playing-Card Society (until 1980). Since then it has produced an annual volume of four (formerly six) issues. It has an index of its articles for the years 1972–1997, and contents listings for issues from 1980 to the present.

Impact

According to card game historian David Parlett, card game research has become "a particular pursuit" of the IPCS and many of its field researchers publish their findings in The Playing-Card. This has contributed to "a growing awareness that a society's indoor games are as distinctive of its culture as its arts, cuisine, or social customs, and are worth recording for the light they throw on that community's personality."

Contributors

Notable contributors to the journal have included:

Editors

The editors of The Playing-Card and its predecessor have been: